Lack of rain hampers Aman cultivation

Transplantation of Aman  seedlings is being hampered in the northern areas of the country due to lack of rains during the last two months, causing concern among the growers. Farmers are abstaining from transplanting Aman seedlings in their lands owing to scanty rainfall this season, but they still hope that there may be some rainfall till this month end. There has been no rainfall during the past twenty days in four districts-Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Nilphamari. It is the peak season for transplanting Aman seedlings, but it is being badly hampered. In this situation farmers are reluctant to bear the high costs for irrigation, farmers and officials of agriculture department said.  The Regional Metrological Department of Dinajpur recorded 84.5 mm of rainfall from July 22 to 25 this year while there is no rainfall from July 26 to August 05 in three districts, said Ashikur Rahman, an official of Dinajpur Regional Met office.  Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) have been suggesting the farmers for maintaining minimum wetness in their already transplanted  Aman (T-Aman) field through providing supplementary irrigation.
In this situation, many solvent farmers have installed electricity run water pumps in the land aiming to supply required water to transplant the seedlings and save those from the dryness. The poor and marginal farmers are in great trouble as they cannot provide water from the diesel run shallow machines due to high cost of irrigation water. Md Mokbul Hossain, a farmer of Rejaikura village under Biral upazila, said if the farmer cultivated T-Aman paddy through supplying irrigation water from diesel run shallow machines, the production cost would increase to a great extent. As a result, the growers might have possibility to incur losses this year for not recouping the production cost against the crop. In many of the places in the district, cracks have also developed in the land.
Sowing of Aman paddy starts early July and continues till late August. “Insufficient rainfall is hampering its cultivation during the ongoing peak sowing season. Now the farmers are sowing paddy by watering their land with pumps,” said Md Rifatul Hossain, deputy director of Dinajpur Regional Agricultural Office. He, however, hoped that the target will be achieved as the sowing will continue till August. Aman cultivation is also under threat in  entire  Rangpur division  including Nilphamari  district for want of rains. The Aman seedlings which were already planted are going to die in the absence of sufficient wetness in the land.  Some farmers have started irrigating their lands in order to plant the seedling  and to save the already planted Aman seedling  with the help of the irrigation pumps.  Deputy director of Nilphamari agriculture extension department  Md AGM  Idris Ali  suggested the farmers to use the irrigation pumps  to cope with the situation. A good number of the farmers under Domar, Dimla and sadar upazilas of the district said it is not possible to irrigate on the maximum lands. They are worried about the Aman production.  Agriculture officer of Domar upazila Md Enamul Haque said the dry season has been prevailing in the region for more than 25 days.

 

Lack of rain hampers Aman cultivation

Transplantation of Aman seedlings is being hampered in the northern areas of the country due to lack of rains during the last two months, causing concern among the growers. Farmers are abstaining from transplanting Aman seedlings in their lands owing to scanty rainfall this season, but they still hope that there may be some rainfall till this month end. There has been no rainfall during the past twenty days in four districts-Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Nilphamari. It is the peak season for transplanting Aman seedlings, but it is being badly hampered. In this situation farmers are reluctant to bear the high costs for irrigation, farmers and officials of agriculture department said. The Regional Metrological Department of Dinajpur recorded 84.5 mm of rainfall from July 22 to 25 this year while there is no rainfall from July 26 to August 05 in three districts, said Ashikur Rahman, an official of Dinajpur Regional Met office. Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) have been suggesting the farmers for maintaining minimum wetness in their already transplanted Aman (T-Aman) field through providing supplementary irrigation. In this situation, many solvent farmers have installed electricity run water pumps in the land aiming to supply required water to transplant the seedlings and save those from the dryness. The poor and marginal farmers are in great trouble as they cannot provide water from the diesel run shallow machines due to high cost of irrigation water. Md Mokbul Hossain, a farmer of Rejaikura village under Biral upazila, said if the farmer cultivated T-Aman paddy through supplying irrigation water from diesel run shallow machines, the production cost would increase to a great extent. As a result, the growers might have possibility to incur losses this year for not recouping the production cost against the crop. In many of the places in the district, cracks have also developed in the land. Sowing of Aman paddy starts early July and continues till late August. Insufficient rainfall is hampering its cultivation during the ongoing peak sowing season. Now the farmers are sowing paddy by watering their land with pumps, said Md Rifatul Hossain, deputy director of Dinajpur Regional Agricultural Office. He, however, hoped that the target will be achieved as the sowing will continue till August. Aman cultivation is also under threat in entire Rangpur division including Nilphamari district for want of rains. The Aman seedlings which were already planted are going to die in the absence of sufficient wetness in the land. Some farmers have started irrigating their lands in order to plant the seedling and to save the already planted Aman seedling with the help of the irrigation pumps. Deputy director of Nilphamari agriculture extension department Md AGM Idris Ali suggested the farmers to use the irrigation pumps to cope with the situation. A good number of the farmers under Domar, Dimla and sadar upazilas of the district said it is not possible to irrigate on the maximum lands. They are worried about the Aman production. Agriculture officer of Domar upazila Md Enamul Haque said the dry season has been prevailing in the region for more than 25 days.